Fat on the Bones

CSA Pick-Up Dec 8

Brrr…the cold is settling in now, and as Edge says, you need fat this time of year. We’ve been eating our share of butter, but I’m looking forward to rendering some of the lard we have stored in our freezers from our pigs last year. I’ve rendered lard once before, from the pig we had for our wedding reception dinner, and it brought us healthily through the winter. We reached for it in place of olive oil or butter, and occasionally baked with it, too (it’s particularly delicious in corn bread), though I’ve yet to make a pie crust with lard…maybe this winter. If you have a hankering for pork leaf lard, please let us know! We have packages of 1-2 lbs, so you can try it out without making a huge commitment. When rendered properly, it doesn’t have a porky taste at all.

This week, we’ll have lamb sausage and stew meat, and chicken on hand at the pick-up. For the month of December we have a CSA-member only special on chicken: $5.50/lb for individual birds and $5.25/lb for 10 birds or more. (Regular price is $5.95/lb)

As we get to the final weeks of the CSA, we’ve decided to combine the last two pick-ups. The greens are not re-growing as fast as we had hoped, so we decided to give you more of the items we have an abundance of that will also store well. Therefore, next week (12/15) will be the last CSA pick-up for the winter. We’ll load you up with extra roots, onions, and garlic to make the last share a bigger one.

We are excited to hear from some of you already about signing up for the 2015 Summer CSA share, and want to let you know that we now accept Paypal and credit card payments on our website. We hope to grow food for all of you through another season! Please let us know if you have any questions, or if you’d like to make a deposit for next year’s share.

This week on the menu: Potatoes, onions, garlic, choice of carrots or greens, thyme, sauerkraut

Simple Roast Chicken

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken
2 Tbs butter or olive oil
salt
pepper
thyme

To Prepare:

Mix butter or olive oil with salt, pepper, and thyme, and brush the entire chicken. Let sit for 1-2 hours.
Pre-heat oven to 375
Place chicken in roasting pan; you can also add potatoes, onions, and whole cloves of garlic around the edge of the pan, framing the chicken.
Roast in the oven for about an hour, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the breast reads 160 degrees, and in the thigh reads between 165-170.
To brown the skin, increase the oven temperature to 400 for the last 10-15 minutes
Let rest for 10 minutes, then carve and enjoy!

This week on the menu: Potatoes, onions, garlic, choice of carrots or greens, thyme, sauerkraut